Method and apparatus for augmenting smartphone-centric in-car infotainment system using vehicle Wi-Fi/DSRC

ABSTRACT

A method and system for augmenting smartphone-centric in-car infotainment systems using Wi-Fi or DSRC communications between a vehicle and surrounding infrastructure. One or more smartphones or other electronic devices within a vehicle electronically communicate with the vehicle via a wireless protocol, such as Bluetooth, or a wired connection. The electronic devices run applications which submit requests for internet-based files or data, such as web pages, audio or video files. The vehicle brokers these requests and, using its own external wireless communications systems, such as Wi-Fi or DSRC, retrieves as many of the files or data as possible whenever internet access is available via an external wireless connection. The vehicle then provides the files or data to the requesting electronic devices. A token-based method for prioritizing the requests and rendering the data to the electronic devices is also disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to using a vehicle's external wirelesscommunication capability to augment data streaming to electronic devicesin the vehicle and, more particularly, to a method and system forjoining a vehicle to Wi-Fi or DSRC networks as they are available to thevehicle, and using the Wi-Fi or DSRC bandwidth for streaming files anddata to personal electronic devices within the vehicle, where thedevices may communicate with the vehicle via a wired connection or adedicated wireless network within the vehicle.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Cell phones have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, tothe point where they are commonly used for email, internet access, and awide variety of special-purpose applications, in addition to theirutility as a phone. Cell phones with such capability are often referredto as smartphones. Smartphones are typically designed to allow wirelessLocal Area Network (wireless LAN, also known as Wi-Fi) or other wirelesscommunications to be used for all applications except actual cell phonecalls. However, in absence of Wi-Fi or other wireless communicationchannels, the cellular communication network is used to deliver data forall applications on demand.

Because of the wealth of applications supported by smartphones, manymodern vehicles now support seamless integration of one or moresmartphones with the vehicles' infotainment systems. For example, asmartphone could be used to stream music from an internet radio serviceto be played over a vehicle's audio system, or the smartphone couldaccess an internet-based video-sharing site and display the videos onthe vehicle's rear-seat entertainment screen. Many vehicles supportintegration of smartphones using wireless communication technologies,such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, within the vehicle.

Other types of electronic devices are also frequently used in vehicles.Such devices include tablet-type computers and ebook readers, laptopcomputers, MP3 music players, gaming devices and others. Some of thesedevices may have cellular communications capability, while others donot. However, many such devices have some sort of wireless communicationcapability—such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi—which allow the devices totransfer files and data when network services are available. Thesedevices may also have hardwire-connection data transfer capability.

Many smartphone-based applications, such as audio and video streaming,are very data-intensive and thus bandwidth-intensive, which can lead topoor performance and/or high data-usage charges over the cellularnetwork. In addition, Wi-Fi communications from smartphones and otherelectronic devices in a vehicle are seldom effective, because thevehicle is constantly passing in and out of range of wireless accesspoints, thus rendering the wireless communications too sporadic to beuseful. A vehicle with an external antenna, however, may have far betterwireless network reception than a handheld device within the vehicle.There is a need for a system which takes full advantage of a vehicle'sexternal wireless communications bandwidth, and makes this bandwidthavailable to electronic devices within the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a method andsystem are disclosed for augmenting smartphone-centric in-carinfotainment systems using Wi-Fi or DSRC communications between avehicle and surrounding infrastructure. One or more smartphones or otherelectronic devices within a vehicle electronically communicate with thevehicle via a wireless protocol, such as Bluetooth, or a wiredconnection. The electronic devices run applications which submitrequests for internet-based files or data, such as web pages, audio orvideo files. The vehicle brokers these requests and, using its ownexternal wireless communications systems, such as Wi-Fi or DSRC,retrieves as many of the files or data as possible whenever internetaccess is available via an external wireless connection. The vehiclethen buffers the retrieved data and provides the files or data to therequesting electronic devices. A token-based method for prioritizing therequests and rendering the data to the electronic devices is alsodisclosed.

Additional features of the present invention will become apparent fromthe following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustration of a vehicle communicationsmodule which can be used to facilitate data transfer to electronicdevices in a vehicle from wireless sources external to the vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram of a method for augmenting electronicdevice data transfer using a vehicle's external wireless communicationscapability; and

FIG. 3 is an illustrated flow chart diagram of a weighted token bucketalgorithm which can be used to allocate available data transferbandwidth among requesting electronic devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following discussion of the embodiments of the invention directed toaugmenting smartphone-centric in-car infotainment systems using Wi-Fi orDSRC communications is merely exemplary in nature, and is in no wayintended to limit the invention or its applications or uses.

Wireless communication systems have become an important part of everydaylife. Modern vehicles have embraced this trend by incorporating onboardwireless communication systems—both systems which are fully embedded inthe vehicle, and vehicle-based systems which can link with portableconsumer electronic devices carried by a driver or passenger.

Many portable electronic devices, which can be connected to a vehicle'sinformation and entertainment (infotainment) system, support datadownload from various internet sources if a suitable network connectionis available. Smartphones can use their cellular phone network forinternet data download, but this can incur high data usage charges. Forexample, listening to high-definition internet radio (at 128 kilobitsper second) consumes on the order of 60 megabytes per hour. Viewingstandard definition videos from an internet video-sharing site (at 384kilobits per second) consumes on the order of 180 megabytes per hour.When considering that a typical commuter averages over an hour per dayin his or her vehicle, it is readily apparent that continuous datadownloads over the cellular network while driving could cause a user toexceed the monthly data download quota of most cell phone contracts.Excess data consumption over the cellular network is to be avoided, asit results in large surcharges on a user's cell phone bill. Doing asmuch data transfer as possible over non-cellular wireless networks is agood way to avoid these surcharges.

Other devices, not having a cellular transceiver, must rely on a directinternet connection—either wired or wireless—for data download. Forexample, one popular touch-screen music player has a wireless receiverand runs many applications which can tap into internet data sources, buthas no cellular transceiver. A significant benefit would be realized byusers of both smartphones and other electronic devices if the vehiclethey are riding in could serve as a surrogate internet service provider.For the sake of simplicity, all electronic devices in the followingdiscussion will be referred to as smartphones, but it is to beunderstood that the methods and system are applicable to any suitableelectronic device, as discussed above.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustration of a vehicle 10 including avehicle communications module 12 which can be used to facilitate datatransfer to electronic devices in the vehicle 10 from external wirelesssources. The vehicle communications module 12 includes a controller 14communicating with an internal wireless module 16, a cache storage 18,and an external wireless module 20. The internal wireless module 16manages wireless communication within the vehicle 10. The internalwireless module 16 could use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC or other wirelesscommunication protocols, and could advantageously support more than oneof these protocols. In practice, the vehicle communications module 12could be packaged as a single physical unit, with connections tointernal and external antennae (not shown) for wireless communications.

Wi-Fi is a name commonly used to represent wireless Local Area Network(LAN) communication based on the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards. Originally an acronym for “wirelessfidelity”, the term Wi-Fi is now commonly used by the public as asynonym for IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN communication. Wi-Fi is a RadioFrequency (RF) communication technology. In a typical Wi-Fi environment,one or more electronic devices communicate with a wireless router oraccess point, where the router or access point is additionally connectedto a Wide Area Network (WAN) and/or the Internet. Computers or otherelectronic devices wishing to wirelessly communicate with the accesspoint must be within range of the RF signal, and if security has beenimplemented on the router or access point, connecting devices must alsoknow and share an encryption key in order to be admitted. Wi-Fi issupported by many applications and devices including video gameconsoles, home networks, personal digital assistants, mobile phones(especially smartphones), computer operating systems, and other types ofconsumer electronics.

Bluetooth is an open, secure protocol for wirelessly exchanging dataover short distances from fixed and mobile devices. Bluetooth uses radiofrequency (RF) technology at 2.4 gigahertz or GHz (2.4×10⁹ cycle/sec),to wirelessly communicate between two or more devices, at a gross datarate of up to 1 mega-bit per second (Mb/s). Enhanced data rate versionsof Bluetooth are capable of supporting higher data rates. Bluetoothprovides a way to connect and exchange information between devices, suchas mobile phones, computers, vehicle infotainment systems, printers,Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, digital cameras, and videogame consoles. When a device is said to be Bluetooth enabled, it meansthat device includes a small computer chip that contains the Bluetoothradio and software that enables that device to connect to other deviceswirelessly using Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth is commonly used invehicle environments, where a device can be securely “paired” to avehicle in a one-time operation, and then automatically connected eachtime the device subsequently enters the vehicle.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a very-short-range wirelessconnectivity technology that evolved from a combination of existingcontactless identification and interconnection technologies. Productswith built-in NFC can simplify the way consumer devices interact withone another, helping speed connections, receive and share information,and make fast and secure payments. Communication between twoNFC-compatible devices occurs when they are brought within about two tofour centimeters of one another. A simple wave or touch can establish anNFC connection, which is then compatible with other wirelesstechnologies, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. NFC could be used inconjunction with Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth in the internal wireless module16.

Smartphones 22, 24 and 26 are onboard the vehicle 10, with thesmartphones 22 and 24 communicating wirelessly with the internalwireless module 16, and the smartphone 26 having a hardwired connectionto the controller 14. Any one of the smartphones 22, 24 or 26 could beintegrated with a vehicle infotainment system (not shown), for playingaudio or video in the vehicle 10. However, integration with theinfotainment system is not required. As long as the smartphones 22-26are registered with the controller 14, as discussed below, they will beable to receive data from the internet via the vehicle communicationsmodule 12.

As will be discussed in detail below, the vehicle communications module12 allows the smartphones 22-26 to request electronic content from theinternet, where the requests are fulfilled when the external wirelessmodule 20 establishes an internet connection via a Wi-Fi access point 28or a DSRC access point 30. The external wireless module 20 is preferablydesigned to support both Wi-Fi and DSRC protocols, and establishconnectivity with any such access point when within range. The Wi-Fiaccess point 28 could be located in a business (for example, free Wi-Fiin a coffee shop) or other location, and the DSRC access point 30 couldbe located in roadside infrastructure (for example, in a highway median,bridge, sign, or toll booth).

Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) are one-way or two-wayshort-range to medium-range wireless communication channels specificallydesigned for automotive use. Regulatory authorities in the UnitedStates, Europe, and elsewhere have allocated a bandwidth spectrum in the5.9 GHz (GigaHertz, or 10⁹ cycles/second) frequency band for DSRC, to beused by the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The decision touse the spectrum in the 5.9 GHz frequency range is due to its spectralenvironment and propagation characteristics, which are suited forvehicular environments. Waves propagating in this spectrum can offerhigh data rate communications for suitably long distances, up to 1000meters, with low weather dependence. DSRC can be used in both publicsafety and private operations, in vehicle-to-vehicle andvehicle-to-infrastructure communication environments.

The vehicle communications module 12 operates as follows. One or more ofthe smartphones 22-26 registers with the controller 14. As discussedpreviously, the smartphones 22-26 can communicate wirelessly with thecontroller 14 via the internal wireless module 16, or they cancommunicate with the controller 14 via a hardwire connection, such as aUSB cable. Each of the smartphones 22-26 which is registered submits arequest for internet data to the controller 14. The request could takemany different forms. For example, it could be a request to display aweb page, a request to listen to an internet radio application, arequest to download a file, or a request to view a video from avideo-sharing site. Some of these requests imply a one-time datatransfer of a certain size, and some of them imply a continuous datatransfer bandwidth. Each time one of the smartphones 22-26 registers andsubmits a request for data, the controller 14 evaluates the request anddetermines whether it can be met. If sufficient internet data bandwidthis not available, the controller 14 can reject registration and datarequests from one or more of the smartphones 22-26.

For data requests from the smartphones 22-26 which are accepted, thecontroller 14 combines them into an internet traffic aggregation whichcontains all required data downloads. The controller 14 then prioritizesand shapes the aggregated traffic list in an attempt to most fairly andefficiently balance available internet bandwidth. A token bucket methodand various policies for prioritization are discussed in detail below.At this point, the controller 14 knows exactly what data it needs toretrieve from the internet. When internet access becomes available, viathe external wireless module 20 communicating with either the Wi-Fiaccess point 28 or the DSRC access point 30, the controller 14 retrievesas much of the required data as possible. Incoming internet data can besent from the external wireless module 20 directly to the cache storage18, from where it can be rendered to the smartphones 22-26 as originallyrequested.

Although devices in the vehicle 10, such as the smartphones 22-26, coulddirectly establish Wi-Fi connectivity with the Wi-Fi access point 28,tests have shown that signal strengths and data transfer rates are farsuperior if the smartphones 22-26 communicate with the vehiclecommunications module 12, and the vehicle communications module 12 usesits external wireless module 20, including an externally mounted antenna(not shown), for communication with the Wi-Fi access point 28. Inaddition, the vehicle communications module 12 can provide internetconnectivity via the DSRC access point 30, whereas the smartphones 22-26would have no built-in DSRC communications capability.

If a sufficient number of the Wi-Fi access points 28 and the DSRC accesspoints 30 are available, the vehicle communications module 12 canprovide essentially uninterrupted internet access and sufficientbandwidth for the smartphones 22-26 to run high-data-rate applications,such as audio and video. This level of service is possible due to therange and bandwidth of DSRC communications, and the rapidly expandingWi-Fi infrastructure. Tests have shown that 30-40 megabytes of data canbe downloaded to the vehicle communications module 12 in a singledrive-by of an access point, such as the Wi-Fi access point 28 or theDSRC access point 30. Of course, if the vehicle 10 is parked withinreception range of the Wi-Fi access point 28, for example, thencontinuous high-bandwidth internet access would be available to thesmartphones 22-26 within the vehicle 10.

The external wireless module 20 can automatically establishcommunications with the Wi-Fi access point 28 when the access point 28is running in unencrypted or unprotected mode. However, the controller14 and the external wireless module 20 can also be configured to managepasswords for specific Wi-Fi access points 28 which arepassword-protected. An occupant of the vehicle 10 could provide apassword for a specific Wi-Fi access point 28, and the controller 14could retain the password and use it to allow the external wirelessmodule 20 to automatically re-establish connectivity with the specificWi-Fi access point 28 when it is encountered again in the future.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram 40 of a method for augmenting electronicdevice data transfer using a vehicle's external wireless communicationscapability, as implemented in the vehicle communications module 12 ofFIG. 1. At box 42, a smartphone, such as the smartphone 22, registerswith the controller 14. Registration of the smartphone 22 with thecontroller 14 simply establishes the smartphone 22 as a device seekinginternet connectivity via the controller 14. It is to be understood thatmore than one smartphone, and other types of electronic devices, couldbe registered with the controller 14. The communication of thesmartphone 22 with the controller 14 could be via a hardwiredconnection, or wireless communication via the internal wireless module16.

At box 44, the smartphone 22 submits a request for data from theinternet. The request could be in the form of a file to download, a webpage to display, a video from a video-sharing site to be viewed, or aninternet radio service to be listened to, as examples. Other types ofdata requests can also be supported. At decision diamond 46, thecontroller 14 determines if enough internet connectivity capacity existsto support the request from the smartphone 22. The request from thesmartphone 22 is evaluated in view of any other requests that thecontroller 14 currently has. If sufficient capacity does not exist, thecontroller 14 rejects the request from the smartphone 22 at box 48. Ifrejected, the user of the smartphone 22 is free to submit anotherrequest at a later time.

At box 50, the controller 14 combines all accepted and as-yetunfulfilled data requests into an aggregated traffic list. Theaggregated traffic list reflects all data which needs to be downloadedfrom the internet and provided to the smartphone 22 and any otherregistered devices. At box 52, the aggregated traffic list isprioritized and shaped into a prioritized file and connectivity listwhich designates what data will be downloaded from the internet, in whatorder, when internet connectivity is available. Prioritization policiesused at the box 52 will be discussed below. At decision diamond 54, thecontroller 14 determines whether internet access is currently availablevia an external access point. If no internet access is currentlyavailable, then at box 56 the process waits for a predetermined amountof time, and then loops back to again check for internet access.

At box 58, when internet access is available via the external wirelessmodule 20 communicating with the Wi-Fi access point 28 or the DSRCaccess point 30, the controller 14 commands the download of data fromthe internet according to the prioritized file and connectivity listfrom the box 52. At box 60, data downloaded from the internet is storedin the cache storage 18. Files in the cache storage 18 may be furtherprocessed at the box 60 as well. For example, a file may be partiallydownloaded while the external wireless module 20 is communicating withthe Wi-Fi access point 28, but the connection may be lost before thefile download is completed. Using existing breakpoint technology, thefile download could be completed when the external wireless module 20next establishes a connection, with the DSRC access point 30, forexample.

At box 62, files and data downloaded from the internet are rendered tothe smartphone 22 as requested. Data can be purged from the cachestorage 18 when delivered to the smartphone 22. The process steps 42-62can be repeated continuously as long as the vehicle 10 is in operation.

FIG. 3 is an illustrated flow chart diagram 100 of a weighted tokenbucket algorithm which can be used to allocate available data transferbandwidth among requesting electronic devices. The algorithm shown onFIG. 3 could be run by the processor 14 discussed previously. Thesmartphones 22-26 are the same devices shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 3, thesmartphones 22-26 are assumed to be communicating with the vehiclecommunications module 12. Request lists 122, 124 and 126 each containblocks which represent requests for data from the smartphones 22, 24 and26, respectively, as discussed previously. In the request list 122, itcan be seen that the smartphone 22 has the most requests pending, whichcould represent a request to view a lengthy video, for example. Thesmartphone 24 has the fewest requests pending, in the request list 124,which could represent a request to view a static web page, for example.The smartphone 26 has a moderate number of requests pending, in therequest list 126, which could represent a file download request.

At box 130, the vehicle 10 encounters a wireless access point, such asthe Wi-Fi access point 28, and generates a number of new tokens. Thenumber of tokens generated upon connection to an access point may befixed, or it may be a function of parameters such as the type of accesspoint and the signal strength. In this example, for illustrationpurposes, there are six tokens generated. Each token represents a blockof data or bandwidth to be parceled out to a connected wireless device.At box 140, the six tokens are assigned to the smartphones 22-26. Inthis example, the tokens are assigned based on the amount of data beingrequested by each device, but other allocation policies are possible, asdiscussed below. The assignment of the six tokens to the smartphones22-26 produces the token allocation shown in box 150, where three tokens222 are assigned to the smartphone 22, one token 224 is assigned to thesmartphone 24, and two tokens 226 are assigned to the smartphone 26.

At decision diamond 160, the processor 14 determines whether tokens areavailable. Given the availability of the tokens 222, 224 and 226, datadownload to the smartphones 22-26 proceeds at arrow 170. The threetokens 222 allow for the download of data blocks 322 to the smartphone22. The data blocks 322 represent the first three blocks of data fromthe request list 122 for the smartphone 22. Similarly, data blocks 324and 326 are downloaded to the smartphones 24 and 26, respectively, basedon the tokens 224 and 226. As data is downloaded to the smartphones22-26, tokens can continue to be generated, and data requests fulfilled,as long as internet connectivity persists.

When internet connectivity via the wireless access point is lost and nomore tokens are available at the decision diamond 160, the algorithmmoves on to box 180, where it waits until another wireless access pointis encountered, at which point it loops back to the box 130.

In the weighted token bucket allocation method discussed above, theallocation of tokens to the smartphones 22, 24 and 26 can be handled ina number of different ways. For example, one allocation policy may be toassign priority status to the first electronic device to register withthe vehicle communications module 12, where priority status could meanthat the prioritized electronic device receives all of its requestedcontent before any other device receives any content, or it could meanthe prioritized device receives proportionally more than other devices.Another policy would be to assign priority status to an electronicdevice which is integrated with the vehicle's infotainment system—thatis, a device which can play audio over the vehicle's speakers or displayvideo to the vehicle's video screens. Yet another allocation policy—theone illustrated in FIG. 3—would be to assign tokens using a weightingscheme which is dependent on the amount of content being requested byeach device. Still another allocation policy would be equal sharing,where each registered device would receive the same amount of datacontent or bandwidth. Other allocation policies could also beenvisioned.

Ultimately, any of the token allocations policies described above can beimplemented. In fact, the allocation policy could be a user-configurableoption in the vehicle infotainment system, as multiple differentpolicies could easily be programmed into the processor 14 and madeavailable for user selection via the infotainment system. As long assome allocation policy is in force at any given time, the methodsdisclosed above will be operable.

Using a vehicle's external wireless communications capability, includingboth Wi-Fi and DSRC, a significant amount of internet bandwidth can beprovided to smartphones and other electronic devices onboard thevehicle. The users of smartphones can then benefit from reduced relianceon the cellular network for data downloads, while the users of otherelectronic devices can benefit from internet connectivity in a vehicleenvironment where such connectivity would not previously have beenavailable.

The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art willreadily recognize from such discussion and from the accompanyingdrawings and claims that various changes, modifications and variationscan be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for augmenting electronic device datatransfer using a vehicle's external wireless communications capability,said method comprising: establishing communication between a pluralityof electronic devices and a communications module in a vehicle;submitting a request list by each of the electronic devices, where therequest list includes a list of requested files or data; accepting therequest list if it can be fulfilled, or rejecting the request list andits electronic device if the request list cannot be fulfilled; combiningthe request list with any previously accepted request lists to producean aggregated traffic list, including prioritizing the request listagainst the previously accepted request lists; retrieving files and datafrom the Internet according to the aggregated traffic list when anexternal wireless connection to the Internet is available; anddownloading the files and data to the electronic devices.
 2. The methodof claim 1 wherein establishing communication between a plurality ofelectronic devices and a communications module in a vehicle includesusing wireless communications within the vehicle.
 3. The method of claim2 wherein the wireless communications within the vehicle use a Bluetoothor Wi-Fi protocol.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein accepting therequest list if it can be fulfilled includes determining whether therequest list can be fulfilled by estimating a bandwidth requirement forthe request list and evaluating the bandwidth requirement in addition tobandwidth required from previously accepted request lists.
 5. The methodof claim 1 wherein prioritizing the request list against the previouslyaccepted request lists includes using a weighted token bucket algorithmwhich assigns tokens to each of the electronic devices, where the tokensrepresent data requests to be fulfilled.
 6. The method of claim 5wherein tokens are assigned in proportion to an amount of data beingrequested by each of the one or more electronic devices.
 7. The methodof claim 5 wherein more tokens are assigned to an electronic devicewhich is integrated with an infotainment system in the vehicle than areassigned to other electronic devices.
 8. The method of claim 1 whereinretrieving files and data from the Internet includes storing the filesand data in a cache storage module before downloading the files and datato the electronic devices.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the externalwireless connection to the internet uses a Wi-Fi or Dedicated ShortRange Communications (DSRC) protocol.
 10. A method for augmenting datatransfer to a smartphone integrated with a vehicle's infotainment systemusing external wireless communications capability, said methodcomprising: establishing communication between the smartphone and acommunications module in a vehicle, where the smartphone is alsointegrated with the vehicle's infotainment system; submitting a requestlist by the smartphone, where the request list includes a list ofrequested files or data from the Internet; establishing a connection tothe Internet using external wireless communication with a Wi-Fi accesspoint, a Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) access point, orboth; retrieving files and data from the Internet according to therequest list; downloading the files and data to the smartphone for useby the infotainment system in the vehicle; and establishingcommunications between one or more other electronic devices and thecommunications module, submitting a request list by each of the otherelectronic devices, combining the request lists from the smartphone andthe other electronic devices into an aggregated traffic list, retrievingfiles and data from the Internet according to the aggregated trafficlist, and downloading the files and data to the smartphone and the otherelectronic devices.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the smartphoneand the other electronic devices communicate wirelessly with thecommunications module using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi protocols.
 12. The methodof claim 10 further comprising a weighted token bucket allocation, wheretokens representing data requests to be fulfilled are assigned to thesmartphone and each of the other electronic devices.
 13. A vehiclecommunications system comprising: an internal wireless module forfacilitating wireless communications with one or more electronic deviceswithin a vehicle; an external wireless module for facilitating wirelesscommunications between the vehicle and external wireless access points;a cache storage module for storing data downloaded from the Internet viathe external wireless access points; and a controller in communicationwith the internal wireless module, the external wireless module and thecache storage module, said controller being configured to receive datadownload request lists from the one or more electronic devices, combinethe data download request lists into an aggregated traffic list,retrieve files and data from the Internet according to the aggregatedtraffic list when an external wireless connection to the Internet isavailable, store the files and data from the Internet in the cachestorage module, and render the files and data to the one or moreelectronic devices.
 14. The system of claim 13 wherein the internalwireless module supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi protocols.
 15. Thesystem of claim 13 wherein the external wireless module supports bothWi-Fi and Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) protocols.
 16. Thesystem of claim 13 wherein one of the electronic devices is integratedwith an infotainment system in the vehicle such that audio or video datadownloaded from the Internet can be played in the vehicle.
 17. Thesystem of claim 13 wherein the controller is configured with a weightedtoken bucket algorithm which fulfills the data download request listsfrom each of the electronic devices using tokens, and the tokens areassigned based on a policy.
 18. The system of claim 17 wherein thepolicy may be based on an amount of data requested by each of theelectronic devices, an order of registration of each of the electronicdevices, or an integration status of each of the electronic devices withan infotainment system in the vehicle.